Williams supports efforts to combat HIV and AIDS

Measures to address HIV and AIDS can act as a bridge to tackling many issues affecting the world's poor, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

Dr Rowan Williams was at the UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva last week to take part in a discussion on HIV, food and human rights.

He said the issue of HIV and AIDS had far reaching implications.

"AIDS presents us with a cluster of issues that are not just a question of epidemiology but are a prism through which a whole range of social issues come into sharp focus," he said.

"AIDS can be the key that opens the way to address many other issues such as the role of women, the rights of minorities and food security."

A renewed approach to human rights was proposed by the Archbishop, who reiterated a key message from his public lecture delivered the evening before at the World Council of Churches, that human rights "are not an arbitrary set of individual claims but about belonging and mutual recognition".

Dr Williams suggested a new language on human rights that acknowledges the role of the state in looking after its people, and the rights and responsibilities implied in ‘citizenship’.

Winnie Sseruma, Advocacy and Networks Officer at Christian Aid, welcomed the new language.

Speaking from her own perspective as a person living with HIV, she emphasised the "need to talk about citizenship and the rights of every person".

In using these new terms, she suggested, "We have to lower our voice in the North or the governments in the South will stop listening."

Sseruma called for continued funding in order to build upon the progress that has already been made in addressing HIV worldwide.

"We need to find the money for HIV treatment. If we don’t, what we’ve been working on will unravel in front of our eyes."

Dr Williams concluded the discussion by emphasising the important role faith communities have to play in addressing HIV and HIV-related issues.

He said: "I would hope that, given faith communities are in place before, during and after crises, that they are included and given the help they need to overcome barriers."